Dan left his successful career in law enforcement and relocated his family from Atlanta to the Inland Northwest to pursue their dream of homesteading. Dan practices a primal lifestyle and uses permaculture principles and techniques to develop his new 10 acre homestead from scratch.

His primary motivation in pursuing this lifestyle is to provide his family with the healthiest, high-quality, nutrient-dense, food while doing so in a sustainable, regenerative manner that enhances their resiliency and adds value to the community.

Dan has taken Geoff Lawton’s online PDC, the PermaEthos PDC, and several other workshops under the sustainable agriculture umbrella. Dan is putting this knowledge to work raising sheep for meat and a small flock of chickens and ducks.

Dan also taught himself video production skills and has worked on Justin Rhodes’ “Permaculture Chickens” film (promotional editing) and his new “10 Hour Homestead” Course as well as filming and editing content for Gary Collins of the Primal Power Method. Dan is currently producing a daily YouTube “vlog” – The Grass-fed Homestead – documenting the establishment of the homestead.

Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show. Also remember you can call in your questions and comments to 866-65-THINK (866-658-4465) and you might hear yourself on the air.

Also remember we have an expert council that can answer you questions. If you have a question send it to jack at thesurvivalpodcast.com with TSPC Epert in the subject line. Ask your question in one to two sentences so it is clear then provide any additional details. Make sure to tell me what council member the question is for. You Meet the Expert Council at this Link.

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Paul Wheaton

Paul is a strong advocate for the use and tinkering of rocket mass heaters – a wood burning stove design that utilizes the heat typically lost through exhaust piping in conventional designs as an additional heat source. The design is simple enough that anyone can build one, and can heat your home with as much as 90% less wood. Paul’s latest video series shows in great detail how to build and use a rocket mass heater several different ways – you can learn more here.

In addition to maximizing fuel efficiency with the exhaust piping, rocket mass heaters incorporate a thermal mass to more gradually distribute heat, and create a longer lasting heat source. Often times this is done by winding the exhaust piping through a beautiful cob bench, but in Paul’s DVD sets, he also covers pebble style rocket mass heaters.

Local Orbit

Consumer demand is stimulating rapid change in the food system. Big food is losing market share to local food. Supply chains are in the early stages significant transformation, creating new opportunities for independent food producers.

Erika will discuss this shifting landscape, focusing on sales, marketing and distribution options for small farmers, as well as how to determine an appropriate scale and market focus based on both your personal and business goals – and how you can get there.

She’ll explore the benefits and challenges of both direct-to-consumer distribution models and food hub/aggregation models, with information about how producers can get involved with existing food hubs or launch their own.

She’ll also discuss the role of online platforms such as Local Orbit in the evolving food economy, and share Local Orbit’s vision to create the underlying supply chain infrastructure that supports local, collaborative and transparent food economies, with shared value for all participants.

Erika brings unique insight to this discussion, having worked with local food buyers, sellers and logistics providers across the country, with organizations that are growing, as well as organizations that are struggling or have failed. She has worked with more than 100 entrepreneurs in various stages of developing local food distribution businesses through Local Orbit’s Hub Camps localorbit.com/workshops. Erika also works with foodservice operators to integrate local food into high-volume procurement processes.

Meet Erika Block

Erika is the Founder and CEO of Local Orbit, the supply chain platform for people who are creating a new, connected food economy. Local Orbit enables institutions and restaurants to efficiently purchase from local farmers, food makers & aggregators, while maintaining complete supply chain transparency.

By enabling efficient, decentralized supply chains, Local Orbit saves money for foodservice buyers and enables them to meet customer demand for local, sustainably sourced food, while increasing market share for small and mid-size food producers.

Prior to Local Orbit, Erika co-founded and ran an entrepreneurial arts organization, producing cross-sector partnership events in the US, Great Britain and South Africa. She also co-created, directed and produced 15 plays. She led the renovation of a vacant building in Detroit into a theater, gallery and bar and worked with vendors to source local food for events.

Erika was inspired to create Local Orbit through a series of interviews she conducted for a project on the History of Eating. She spent time with people in fields, barns, warehouses, processing facilities, delivery trucks, kitchens, offices, cafeterias and restaurants. She talked to policy makers, business owners, food writers and nutritionists. And she identified the need for a platform that could support the new and evolving businesses and innovators who are transforming our food system.

She has also worked as a technology and business process consultant, focusing on strategic planning, collaboration, operational efficiency and communications strategy. Throughout her career, Erika has created collaborative environments that facilitate learning and action.

Erika is a graduate of University of Michigan, has an MFA from Columbia University, and studied Interactive Technology at NYU. She comes from a family of fruit peddlers, meat processors, restaurant owners and wholesalers. She is a PopTech Social Innovation Fellow. Other awards include Crain’s Detroit Business 40 Under 40.

Resilient Homes & Homesteads:
A Permaculture Engineer’s Perspective

Engineer, ecologist & permaculture designer Rob Avis shares the high-level process he uses with clients to design homesteads that leverage and interact with the environment in which they’re built, producing their own energy and food, harvesting and storing water, cycling nutrients, and restoring the surrounding ecosystems.

He’ll talk about how he combines goal setting, informed observation of the landscape, and appropriate innovative technology (such as building envelope design & annualized geo-solar) with environmental consciousness to create resilient, high-performance homes and farms.

With over 20 years of combined experience in engineering, project management, ecological design and sustainable technologies, Rob and his wife Michelle Avis own & operate Adaptive Habitat – a unique and leading edge property design and management company in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

As skilled Professional Engineers, they offer a depth of practical expertise in building science and appropriate technology (solar, wind, combined heat & power), as well as rainwater harvesting, agro-ecology, ecosystem engineering, soil regeneration and onsite wastewater treatment / septic design.

Their extensive project management experience includes site analysis, technical design, cost estimating and scheduling, through to commissioning and construction.

Justin Rhodes is an “edutainer” creating daily homesteading vlogs on Youtube. He runs an online business, abundantpermaculture.com teaching folks how to grown their own food (mainly chicken and veggies) with permaculture.

Justin made a big splash with his DVD “Permaculture Chickens” via Kickstarter over a year ago. Since they he has worked tirelessly to simplify and hack homesteading and raising animals into the most efficient and low cost methods possible.

He joins us today to discuss the concept of “The Ten Hour Homestead”. Today we discuss that concept in detail and how the average person can produce much of their own food with minimal investment of time and money with modern homesteading concepts.

Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show. Also remember you can call in your questions and comments to 866-65-THINK (866-658-4465) and you might hear yourself on the air.

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Join best-selling permaculture author Toby Hemenway and over 100 students for a dynamic and practical course on creating your home ecosystem. Imagine living in a yard that overflows with food and other useful products such as medicine, fiber, and building supplies. Your yard can also shrink home energy bills, extend your growing season, and be a comfortable outdoor space year-round in all but the harshest climates.

It can also help provide income and reduce your dependence on money. In this 5-session course, you’ll learn how to do all this, but there’s more: That same yard that gives you food, energy, and income security can also enhance wildlife habitat, sequester carbon, and provide a beautiful, restful sanctuary for you and your partners or family. If you enjoyed reading Gaia’s Garden, this course will show you how to bring that book to life in your yard. Those who complete this course will earn a certificate from the Permaculture Institute (USA).

Early Bird Special

PermaEthos and Toby Hemenway are offering a HUGE discount on the course. The normal price is $299. If you register before October 1st you will get $100 off making the course only $199. If you are a PermaEthos founding member you will receive an additional $25 off.Get the Early Birds Special Now

Live Class Dates and Times

Each live class lesson will be recorded in case you miss it or if you are unable to attend live. These will also be available for download! Our live classroom software is compatible with iOS and Android devices as well as on the PC (Mac, Linux, Windows).

Lesson 01 – 6pm Pacific on October 6th

Lesson 02 – 6pm Pacific on October 13th

Lesson 03 – 6pm Pacific on October 20th

Lesson 04 – 6pm Pacific on October 27th

Lesson 05 – 6pm Pacific on November 3rd

Permaculture Institute Certificate

Those who successfully complete the “Creating Gaia’s Garden” course will receive a certificate from The Permaculture Institute USA, a 501c3 non-profit organization founded in 1997 by Bill Mollison and Scott Pittman, and will also receive 10 credit hours toward a Diploma in Permaculture. PI-USA is one of the principal certifying organizations of the international permaculture community, and TobyHemenway is a Field Director for the Institute, which means that he can offer certificates sponsored by PI-USA, and can mentor students through the Institute’s Diploma Program.

The Diploma in Permaculture is awarded to individuals who meet certain education requirements, achieve excellence in permaculture practice, demonstrate their commitment to permaculture ethics, and submit adequate evidence of their work to a committee of peers (College of Diplomats) for review and recommendations.

A permaculture design certificate course (PDC) is a pre-requisite for the diploma, but the credit hours from the ”Creating Gaia’s Garden” online course can be applied toward the diploma regardless of whether the student has completed a PDC prior to this course or not. The credit hours from this course cannot be applied toward the PDC at the present time. More information about PI-USA’s diploma program can be found at http://www.permaculture.org/what/diploma/

Nine Mile Farm – Three Years Into It – We Didn’t Get Here By Accident but we did Make Mistakes Along the Way

Today we continue our Tuesday shows selected by you the audience. You can see the results of the voting for June here, and the new poll to vote on July’s show is already up and ready for voting here.

The winners for June are as follows,

Four Years of Flux – The Rapid Changes Between Now and 2020

Your First Year on a New Homestead – Taking Actions without Regretting Them

Eating like a king on a Below Average Income

The 12 Planks of Modern Survivalism – A Revisit 8 Years After I First Created Them

I decided to kick the month off with Your First Year on the New Homestead as a lot is fresh in my mind because Dorothy and I watched this video last night. If you have seen any recent video of my property the differences are staggering. That said there were a lot of things in this video that changed, some even failed and some we just decided not to do.

Why? Observation, interaction, on the fly learning, adaptation, opportunity recognition and other things we will discuss today.

Join Me Today To Discuss…

The Urge to get shit done fast and why to hold back a bit

Start with infrastructure

Water – specifically irrigation/pluming

Access – don’t design it out

Structures – people, gear, animals

Containment – control of animals and humans

Mobile Housing – best bet in the first year

For food production start small and intensive

Intensive gardens or wicking beds

Rack housed livestock

Tractored livestock

Some big things to do not

Buying plants/trees without know where/when they will be planted

Adding livestock before you have means to control them

Put in isolated structures, features, gardens, etc

Some things to do

Walk your property daily take it all in

Keep a journal, notes, etc.

Observe neighboring property

See out cheap/free sources of materials (use caution)

Develop a composting solution

Get shit organized – I am personally weak at this

Finish one thing before you begin the next

Keep a record of things you have to do/fix often, develop a how to “manual”

The most important analysis – analyze yourself

What do you like to eat

Are you going to be okay killing animals or even having them killed

How much can you store

How much time a week do you have to do things

Can you honestly do basic maintenance every morning and evening

What do you really want from your homestead

Some very important things to consider

Just because it works for someone else doesn’t mean it will for you

Homesteading is NOT a competitive sport

Always remember you may have to sell a property some day

Admit, accept and correct mistakes FAST

Always be willing to take a step back

Understand most animals bind you to your property

Consider hiring part time help if you have the budget

Hire out stuff you will never get to if it is important

In the end, you will make mistakes just stick to ones you can correct easily

Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show. Also remember you can call in your questions and comments to 866-65-THINK (866-658-4465) and you might hear yourself on the air.

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Bob Wells Plant of the Week – Arbequina Olive – The most cold hardy variety of olives know that also has one of the highest olive production and oil yields.

The soil should be well drained. Tree has an upright habit. We recommend covering the tree the first winter if the temperature drops below freezing.

Once the tree has been in the ground for a year and is well rooted, it then will begin to withstand the colder temperatures.

The older the tree gets the more, cold hardy it becomes. Oil is sweet, delicate and fragrant with intense fruitiness but low levels of bitterness and spiciness.

If you live above zone 7, you can grow it in a container and bring it inside during the winter months.

Bob Wells specializes in edible landscape, including: Fruit Trees, Berry Plants, Vine Fruit, Nut Trees, as well as the hard to find Specialty Fruit Trees. Find this plant and more at BobWellsNursery.Com

Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show. Also remember you can call in your questions and comments to 866-65-THINK (866-658-4465) and you might hear yourself on the air.

Also remember we have an expert council you can address your calls to. If you do this you should email me right after your call at jack at thesurvivalpodcast.com with expert council call in the subject line. In the body of your email tell me that you just called in a question for the council and what number you called in from. I will then give the call priority when I screen calls.

Join the MSB Today

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Danial is the founder of permaculturetools.com.au – the US version of the site is at USA.Permaculturetools.com.au a long held dream centered on offering quality hand tools to the permaculture community worldwide with on the ground education in hand tools use, earth works hydrology and rural skills.

His permaculture resources are freely available such as YouTube films on how to use, maintain and repair hand tools, permaculture related eBooks and a yearly scholarship.

Set in motion with a permaculture design course at the young age of thirteen in Tena, Ecuador, Danial followed up with a Permaculture Diploma in site development, site design, and research. At university Danial crammed in a Bachelor of Environmental science with double majors in ecology & conservation biology and Land & water management, a Masters in Environmental management and most recently a Masters in Environmental engineering.

Danial also completed many specialty courses during his tertiary studies including Industrial water and waste water treatment, hazardous waste management, Advanced water and waste water engineering, Renewable energy systems, Geographic information systems/remote sensing and ISO 14001 Environmental systems.

With 15 years experience in the Permaculture field, Danial has worked for international permaculture projects in Central and South America, as water systems manager for Tagari farm (PRI Australia) and later as farm manager for Zaytuna farm (PRI Australia).

Within this time Danial has taught and facilitated a variety of Permaculture design and hands on courses through Griffith University, PRI Australia and Northey Street City Farm. As a design consultant Danial draws on environmental science and permaculture principles to design sustainable systems worldwide and for local Australian clients and government organizations.

Danial’s research interests include water harvesting design, small space permaculture and appropriate technology. He joins us today to discuss hand tools for agricultural and homestead work.

It needs no trellis (self-supported) and is late producing, extending the blackberry season to July or August depending on your climate. Since it is a late blooming plant, you don’t have to worry about losing your crop to a late freeze.

Yields are high with large sweet berries and above all it is thornless and great tasting.

Bob Wells specializes in edible landscape, including: Fruit Trees, Berry Plants, Nut Trees, as well as the hard to find Specialty Fruit Trees. Find this plant and more at BobWellsNursery.Com

Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show. Also remember you can call in your questions and comments to 866-65-THINK (866-658-4465) and you might hear yourself on the air.

Also remember we have an expert council that can answer you questions. If you have a question send it to jack at thesurvivalpodcast.com with TSPC Epert in the subject line. Ask your question in one to two sentences so it is clear then provide any additional details. Make sure to tell me what council member the question is for. You Meet the Expert Council at this Link.

Join the MSB Today

Want Every Episode of TSP Ever Produced?

Remember in addition to discounts to over 40 vendors who supply stuff you are likely buying anyway, tons of free ebooks and video content, MSB Members also get every edition of The Survival Podcast ever produced in convenient zip files in blocks of 24. More info on the MSB can be found here.

It is March and that means planting or planning planting depending on where you live. In any event if you plan on annual gardening by now you are, you have plants started or you will be likely buying starts.

Today though we focus on what I call the “long term investment strategy of growing food”, of course that means perennials. I tried to pick a good mix of over looked and misunderstood plants today. Different plants the fill different needs, if times get tough or even if they don’t.

When I wrote this title I originally called it 10 perennial edibles you should grow, then I realized that was sort of arrogant and not practical. Not every plant grows well everywhere and not everyone likes the same thing. So today we don’t just look at these 10 plants, but where they grow well, what they provide, what they require and how to acquire them.

It is self-fruitful, but if you want to boost production, plant a Lang Jujube along with it.

Bob Wells specializes in edible landscape, including: Fruit Trees, Berry Plants, Nut Trees, as well as the hard to find Specialty Fruit Trees. Find this plant and more at BobWellsNursery.Com

Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show. Also remember you can call in your questions and comments to 866-65-THINK (866-658-4465) and you might hear yourself on the air.

Also remember we have an expert council that can answer you questions. If you have a question send it to jack at thesurvivalpodcast.com with TSPC Epert in the subject line. Ask your question in one to two sentences so it is clear then provide any additional details. Make sure to tell me what council member the question is for. You Meet the Expert Council at this Link.

Join the MSB Today

Want Every Episode of TSP Ever Produced?

Remember in addition to discounts to over 40 vendors who supply stuff you are likely buying anyway, tons of free ebooks and video content, MSB Members also get every edition of The Survival Podcast ever produced in convenient zip files in blocks of 24. More info on the MSB can be found here.